Nacala port

The Nacala port is located in northern Mozambique. It is the deepest port in Southern Africa. It is a natural deep harbor which serves land locked Malawi with a 931km railway. The Nacala Railway system connects Nayuchi, Malawi with the Port of Nacala. The railway system also connects Nampula, Malema, and Cuamba. In Cuamba, there is a junction which goes northeast to Lichinga and southeast to Nayuchi.

The Mozambique government plans to spend $500 million U.S. dollars on coal freight. It will boost its rail freight with a new railway linking the coal rich province Tete to the Port of Nacala. Mozambique needs a second railway for coal in order to expand infrastructure in the country. According to the Minister of Transportation and Communications Paulo Zucula, the government expects the line to be completed by 2015. By that time, the government will have reached the peak of coal production in the Moatize area in Tete. The Danish government has provided funding for the government. In 2004, 300,000 tons of coal were moved by rail from the Port of Nacala.

Nacala Port and coal
Nacala port is a possible location for a new export terminal for coal produced from the Moatize coalfield in Mozambique. A news report in 2009 cited Mozambique’s Transport Minister Paulo Zucula stating that the government had secured $500 million from the Dutch government and the European Union to to build a new railway line from Moatize to the deep-water Nacala port by 2015.

At present the only operating coal terminal in Mozambique is Beira port. Coal from Vale's Moatize mine, which was commissioned in mid-2011, and Rio Tinto's Benga coal mine, which is currently scheduled to be commissioned in late 2011, will use the port. Coal from the Moatize coalfields ios transport to the port via the 660 kilometre long Sena railway.

Vale begins study on coal terminal at Mozambique’s deepwater Nacala Port
In July 2011 it was announced that Brazilian based Vale began studies on building a coal terminal at Nacala port in northern Mozambique. The project is expected to cost about $1.5 billion.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Mozambique and coal
 * Vale's coal interests